RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s son Tejashwi Yadav is all for speedily sealing seats in the Bihar mahagathbandhan, but the smaller constituents of his ‘alternative smaller mahagathbandhan’ are giving him headaches.
Tejashwi, with all his heart and soul, is keen on adopting the same seat-sharing formula with Congress in Bihar which the SP-BSP have adopted in UP, i.e. an equal share of 20-20 seats of the total 40 seats of the state. Though additionally he wants the Congress to spare eight seats for the other constituents of the mahagathbandhan, namely Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP and Pappu Yadav’s JAPL, and then field its candidates on the remaining 12.
Buoyed by its victory in the three assembly polls, Congress is in no mood to settle for any less. Plus, the entry of Priyanka Gandhi in politics is gaining the party a psychological advantage. The upper class is making a swift shift to Congress. And, as a result, there is a surge in the number of upper class leaders willing to contest from Bihar Congress.
On the other hand, RJD is not willing to contest any upper class leaders on its tickets. Congress is the ultimate destination for contenders like Kirti Azad, Uday Singh (alias Pappu Singh) and Shatrughan Sinha.
Akhilesh Singh is advocating for Munger’s muscle-flexing don-turned-MLA Anant Singh, even after knowing that Tejashwi and Anant do not gel together.
Congress will also have to adjust Sharad Yadav in its seat share math. JNU-fame Kanhaiya Kumar is also an upper caste contender who is willing to contest on CPI’s ticket from Begusarai. This might also stem out of Congress’s share.
Anyhoo, the major ally Congress is not as eager to stamp the deal before the proposed February 3 rally of Rahul Gandhi, which the party has planned as a show of strength. So the expectants will have to wait till then. After that, the Congress ticket bank will be the centre of all hawk eyes.